each underdog volunteer is vetted, handovers are done at a safe distance, leads are cleaned and the current understanding is that dogs don't spread the virus. but that's not everything. because there is no shortage of dogs needing a walk, and there is no shortage of volunteers who want to give them a walk. the issue though... cleo! do you like strawberry? here's a strawberry. is bringing them together. he will be back soon, back soon. that is why the charity wants to get the word out, to reach people like stephanie and leo. ifound myself feeling extremely unwell for about two or three weeks and i thought, "gosh, am i gonna do? i can't take my dog leo for a walk." —— what am i going to do? and i found this wonderful charity online. and for me it's been an absolute life—saver. so we may be limited to just one walk a day, but hundreds of us are keen for a bit of canine company and a chance to help

those who can't get out. david sillito, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. what more can you want full if you are taking a four laggard friends out? most of us enjoying mother nature's beauty at the moment but in the north there is quite a lot of cloud around, just like we had yesterday. you can seejust

cloud around, just like we had yesterday. you can see just how much sunshine there is, even stretching into eastern scotland. north—west of the great plan is for cloud, which is producing drizzle and gusts in excess is producing drizzle and gusts in excess of a0 miles an hour. elsewhere, pretty much what you have got at the moment. more than a breeze in the south—west. temperatures are responding. in the south west 15 degrees. sheltered eastern area should see temperatures peaking in the high teens. tonight the cloud in scotland were filter its way down in the north of england and the north of ireland. elsewhere and the north of ireland. elsewhere a quiet night were not as cold as the nightsjust a quiet night were not as cold as the nights just passed. a quiet night were not as cold as the nightsjust passed. 0vernight lows between three and 7 degrees. still the cold front in the north with the colder air behind them is that this little fella could bring some sharp showers later on tomorrow. 0f some sharp showers later on tomorrow. of it, however, a southerly wind will arrive, warmer still. thursday could be the warmest day of the week with temperatures peaking in the low 20s. quite a lot of cloud and lots of sunshine elsewhere. a few sharp showers may arrive down into the south—west. the head of it, temperatures possibly 21, 22. head of it, temperatures possibly 21,22. behind the head of it, temperatures possibly 21, 22. behind the cold front it is

a bit disappointing, between eight and 13. high pressure will build as we head for the weekend. in the north it looks good. in the south—west there could be rain, welcome rain folsom. we have not seen significant rain across england and wales. some of the showers can be heavy and thundery, pushing up from the south—west as we go through the day on friday. not as warm with a north—easterly breeze so it'll be chilly on coasts. further showers on saturday. the showers are likely to ease but as we head through to the weekend, it looks likely that we will continue to see some showers across england and wales. elsewhere it will be dry with sunny spells. back to you. a reminder of our top story...

good afternoon. it's 1.30pm, and here's your latest sports news. the tour de france, which was due to start at the end ofjune, has been postponed until august 29th. it follows an extension of the ban on mass gatherings in france until mid—july. the three—week tour will still have the same route, starting in nice on august 29th and finishing in paris on the 20th september. race director christian prudhomme says some stages may be tweaked to avoid major cities. the tour will be followed by the world road championships and then the other grand tours, italy's giro and the vuelta in spain. here's the former pro cyclist and journalist michael hutchinson. the thing about the tour de france

is that, in cycling, it is the main event, it's what generates the cash, ina way, event, it's what generates the cash, in a way, and it's notjust about money, but in the end of the sport needs finance to keep going, so it's great that hopefully we will have a tour de france this year, and the other aspect is that, for france, it's not just other aspect is that, for france, it's notjust a sporting event but a cultural event and, to a lot of people in france the idea of a year without a tour de france would be unthinkable, it would be the final thing this year, the idea of that not happening. so i think it's good. the four—time tour winner chris froome has given his reaction. "the news many of us have been waiting for. "some light at the end of the tunnel." the protracted sale of newacstle united could soon be over. 0wner mike ashley has been looking for a buyer for the last three years and has reportedly agreed a deal to sell the club for £300 million. the prospective buyers are a saudi—led consortium of investors, headed by english

businesswoman amanda staveley. she previously tried to buy the club in 2017. at the time, ashley described her as a time—waster. the premier league has begun the process of carrying out its owners and directors checks. former newcastle defender steve howey says the club needs an injection of cash. i think you need to invest in the clu b i think you need to invest in the club itself, invest in players, and that grows and helps the area. on the inside, the club really hasn't been touched, so that needs addressing, but obviously, as all fans, they want to see investment in the club on players. it's been somewhat lacking, shall we say, undermike somewhat lacking, shall we say, under mike ashley. the deputy general secretary of european leagues, the voice of professional football across 29 countries, says it's impossible to say when the game will return to normal. alberto colombo says that,

although some clubs are back in training, it's only in preparation in case restrictions are lifted. of course, it's impossible to answer the question of when we will be back playing, and nobody in this world knows the answer, because this will depend on the evolution of the virus, and we have to remember that the situation might be diverse from country to country and there might be local solutions to local problems. but ultimately we all know that the governments of the virus countries, they are the ones in charge of implementing and lifting virus restrictions that apply to our lives and also to sport. after over a week in hospital, the former tottenham and england strikerjimmy greaves is back home, recuperating with his wife irene. greaves who is 80, didn't test positive for covid—19,

but a statement on social media said that he had been very ill. he suffered a stroke five years ago. the post thanked the thousands of people who'd sent goodwill messages, saying it was "lovely to know that there is still so much love for him in the world". there certainly is. one of spurs‘s greatest strikers, their record goal—scorer. i'll have more for you in the next hour. we still have much to learn about covid—19 — including why the virus seems to disproportionately affect people from black, asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. more than a third of those who are seriously ill in hospital in england and wales fall into that category, according to analysis from the intensive care national audit and research centre. let's get more on this now from pria rai, reporter for the bbc asian network. first of all, explain. a lot of people might be surprised by that

disproportion figure. custom correct, because the size of that group compared to the population, but many factors are at play. there are certain health conditions which might be more prevalent in that community, and the amount of them which work in front line, key worker jobs, but also living conditions. we can't pinpoint these, but when you look at living conditions, the fact that there will be so many british asian households out there that have three, four generations living under one roof. we also know that there is a higher likelihood that some minority groups will live in overcrowded housing with not enough bedrooms for the number of people. the question is, how to those people follow government guidance on social distancing or, if there is somebody with symptoms, how can they self—isolate? let me paint a picture. i spoke to a woman who lives in east london, a british bangladeshi, a family of seven living in a three—bedroom house, and

three of those people are key workers, leaving the house each day, potentially exposing a vulnerable member of that family to the virus. they could be unknown carriers, and that's a real worry for families with that kind of setup. so that's the physical health risk. given there are so many people under one roof at the best of times, there must be issues with mental health for many of these people. it's stressful. custom crib it's stressful. custom crib it's stressful for a nyone stressful. custom crib it's stressful for anyone right now, let's be frank, but if you are really worried about somebody in your house who is vulnerable, and the lady i'm talking about is anxiety and she says she is finding it difficult to comprehend the fact that herfamily it difficult to comprehend the fact that her family members, it difficult to comprehend the fact that herfamily members, who it difficult to comprehend the fact that her family members, who she loves a nd that her family members, who she loves and respects for going out and doing these keyjobs are potentially coming home and exposing someone to the virus. we are talking about many families where bedrooms are shared, s03 families where bedrooms are shared, so a two metre distance isn't possible. yes, and sharing a bedroom

and keeping that distance is a physical challenge, but we are all getting on top of each other. that mental challenge is also an issue. the likelihood of the virus then spreading amongst communities, its logic and you can see how it could bea logic and you can see how it could be a factor in the virus spreading. and the disproportionate number representing numbers of the key worker community, that is something. yes, we know this calls for an investigation, and we have seen the ethnic minority front line workers who have died, and the numbers you mentioned from the intensive care national audit and research centre of the critically ill patients, a third of them are identifying as being from an ethnic minority background, and there are questions to be asked as to why that is the case. the government says it is committed to reducing health inequalities, but it is the fact that, as i listed a few, there are multiple reasons that are at play

for those particular communities. the positive side is that a lot of families would say they would like to be able to care for elderly relatives but they can't. yes, a big perk of a nation household is the fa ct perk of a nation household is the fact they take so much pride in looking after their elderly relatives, but i think that that adds to the pressure, actually. the one thing you want to do is the ha rd est one thing you want to do is the hardest thing right now. thank you. as we've been hearing, the government has now announced it will test all care home residents and staff who show symptoms of coronavirus, and that all new residents discharged from hospital into care homes will also be tested. yesterday, the office for national statistics said 217 people had died in a care home setting — but those figures are 11 days out of date. charities and care homes believe the figure is much higher. graham satchell has been speaking to workers at a care home where 16 residents have died with the virus. these pictures were taken for us by care home staff.

it looks normal but what has happened here at oak springs in liverpool is truly awful. i can't tell you how hard it is to lose 16 residents. 16 residents in the space of three weeks is just completely devastating, and you don't have time to grieve the one, that you're losing another one and another one and another one. it's... it's horrendous. it's absolutely heart—rending and horrendous. staff have been doing absolutely everything they can here to protect their residents but there is a growing anger in the care sector, a feeling that they have been forgotten, from the supply of protective clothing to testing to counting the number of dead. age uk are saying the current figures are airbrushing older people out, like they don't matter. do you think that's right? yes. i think what they are saying is right. we was very much

bottom of the list, i feel, when the government was first aware of the coronavirus and the impact it would have on the country. i think care homes and the care sector was very much at the bottom of the list. the government says residents in care homes have not been forgotten, that protective clothing is being delivered, and today they have announced all residents and staff in care homes who need a test will be given one. but is it too late? we've not been tested at all, nobody in this care home has been tested. and i do feel cross about that because i think we should be tested. you're not tested, you don't know, do you, whether you are bringing it in... no. ..whether you are taking it out? no, you don't. i took time off as a precaution to protect the residents from catching whatever i had. but if you are not tested, you are kind of flying blind, aren't you? yeah, you are, yeah. at one stage, 5a of the 72 staff

there were self—isolating, including the manager, andrea. this is herfirst day back at work after having the virus herself. when i was looking after my residents, i knew full well that, you know, it won't be long before i will be presenting with symptoms of covid—19. does it stop me holding that resident's hand while they are passing away? no, it doesn't, because that is the nature of the job and what i do, i care for people. you care for people no matter what. we now know more than 2000 care homes in england have an outbreak of the virus. here, there's no doubt, lives could have been saved if action had been taken earlier. the government should have said, "right, 0k, we're going to lock these care homes down, we are going to protect them. we are going to test the staff, we are going to test the residents. we are going to minimise this risk before it hits them. we are going to protect these people who fought a war for us. we are going to protect these

vulnerable people because, you know what? that is the reason that me and you are here because these people fought for our country. so let's look after them." yes, you think they were let down? yeah, ido. i do. i think they were let down by the government. the headlines on bbc news... all care home residents and staff who have coronavirus symptoms in the uk will now be tested — as the government tries to tackle the rising number of infections and deaths in care homes. labour leader sir keir starmer urges the government to show the public there is a plan and publish its strategy for ending the coronavirus lockdown. president trump suspends funding for the world health organization — accusing it of covering up the spread of the virus in china. despite the coronavirus pandemic, polling is under way for the parliamentary elections in south korea. hand sanitisers and plastic gloves are being provided to voters, who are also required to wear masks

and maintain social distancing. it has involved a lot of preparation to get polling stations ready, but the government is trying to reassure its aa million eligible voters that it's safe to leave their homes. from seoul, laura bicker reports. this is an election like no other. voters must wear masks, stand at least a metre apart. their temperature is taken, they disinfect their hands and wear plastic gloves. these two days of early voting have seen a record turnout. despite the ongoing pandemic, people are still coming here in the thousands to cast their vote. they are going into these little booths here with their plastic gloves, they mark their ballot, and then put it in the box. translation: i thought maybe the election should be postponed because people wouldn't turn up.

but now i am here and see so many others i'm not worried. this is about our right to vote. patients with coronavirus are also able to vote. special polling booths have been set up outside treatment centres. this woman told us she was thankful for the opportunity. campaigning during a pandemic requires some thought. gone are the mass rallies, replaced by mostly masked encounters. candidates whose main concern was once a slowing economy and stalled peace talks with north korea have now had to show they're doing their bit to fight covid—19. south korea controlled the spiralling number of cases quickly and effectively, aggressively tracing and testing infected patients.

the widely praised response has given president moon's once embattled democratic party a boost. the opposition, however, credit the thousands of health professionals on the front lines. there are fears that holding an election could trigger a second wave of infections. but, for now, south korea is determined to prove what is possible during this pandemic. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. 0nlyjust over 6,000 loans have been approved under the government's business interruption loans scheme — a centrepiece of its measures to help businesses through the pandemic. that's out of 28,000 who've formally applied. the government says it's picking up speed but many businesses have told the bbc they've been rejected or told they're not eligible. let's speak to the shadow business secretary, ed miliband. hejoins me from north london. good afternoon. afternoon. why is this

not working at the moment?” afternoon. afternoon. why is this not working at the moment? i think it's not working because of the design of the scheme. as you rightly say, we have got 6 million smes in this country, and one in a thousand have got help under this scheme. it's doing worse than the countries that have done well on this, somewhere like switzerland got 70,000 loans out in the first week. there is one specific necessary step that i think the government should make a first step, and that is to underwrite 100% of the loan, not 80%, as they are doing at the moment. to explain, at the moment, because the banks are still bearing 20% of the risk, they are undergoing the normal commercial underwriting. i think we might have a problem with the line. we are going to try... are you still there? i am still here and you still there? i am still here and you find. we lost you after about as

seconds. i apologise. go on. if you have 100% underwriting of the loan it means that the bank is no longer bearing 20% of the risk, as they are at the moment, and it will massively increase the speed of the process, and hopefully we will go from only 6000 firms getting loans to many, many more, and that's certainly the lesson from other countries. this is a matter of days. we have got businesses across the country making decisions about their future in the coming days, so this is urgent. is ita coming days, so this is urgent. is it a government or a bank problem? a lot of businesses say they are being told they are not eligible. custom crew i have never shied away from criticising the banks, and i think on this occasion, i wouldn't say it's a government problem because i commend the government on announcing a big and ambitious scheme, but i think it's a government responsibility to change the way the

scheme if you look at germany, they began as we did by having 80% underwriting of the loans by government, and they then recognise the money wasn't getting out of the door quickly enough and they had to change. to give an example from my constituency, a small haulage firm got in touch a couple of days ago to say they had been turned down for a loa n say they had been turned down for a loan under this scheme because of an issue of credit history. in normal times, you'd say, this requires further examination and we should ta ke further examination and we should take ourtime, but further examination and we should take our time, but that business has an insurance premium due tomorrow. we don't have time to do the normal process. so, in these extraordinary times, at this time of economic emergency, that's why i am saying, let's have 100% underwriting the government and take the risk off the banks so we can get the money out of the door. is to be noticeable during this crisis, the lack of that partisan ping—pong politics, and a lot of people would welcome what you

say about not criticising the government. do you sense that the government, if you said, look, can i help in some way, is that something you would do and do you think they would listen? absolutely, in my first conversation with my opposite number, alok sharma, i said that, we are not here to score points, we are here to try and provide the scrutiny to make the policy better. i was encouraged yesterday that the chancellor opened the door to this idea that i have been talking about for the last few days, which is 100% underwriting of the loans to get the money out of the door more quickly. i would say to the government and the chance to i have said, that we should not take too long about this, because these are decisions for the next 2a, a8, 78 hours because, as the government makes the decision to move to full underwriting, it will simply fly the process, get money out more quickly, businesses need to apply, the banks need to apply the

new rules, so it's going to take time, and we have got pele coming up, and that's a crunch moment for many businesses in this country. —— we have got payday coming up. they are asking how they will cover their costs. have a new approach to politics and the economy, and the economy in this country will ever be the same again, will it?|j economy in this country will ever be the same again, will it? i think it's too early to say that, but what i think it is clear is that we are an economic downturn the like of which we haven't seen for hundreds of years. and it's going to mean key decisions being made about how we get through this, and that's why making sure the government schemes really work is so important, because how deep the downturn is, how quickly we come out of it will be defined in part by how many businesses survive, how work is fair, much unemployment goes up, so we got to get government schemes right, but then we need a debate that had come out of this. i think

one thing is clear, and i hope this is shared across party, and the a nswer is shared across party, and the answer is not is shared across party, and the answer is not more is shared across party, and the answer is not more austerity. we can't go backwards, i don't believe, to 2010. that isn't the answer for the country. in a sense, i think the decisions for now are how we get the help right now, because it's so urgent. cue your later, keir starmer, says the government needs to show what the plan is when we come out of this lockdown period. do you support him or do you think it's too early and we need to deal with the virus first? i absolutely agree with what keir starmer has said, first, what have we learnt from this crisis? we have learned that you've got to plan. if you think about the way we were as a country trying to come to grips with the implications of this crisis, doing things we would never have imagined happening, social distancing, all of those things we thought we would never see

in our lifetime, with hindsight, certainly, we would have been better planning for that. it was hard for the government to do that. so let's plan for the exit from lockdown. it will be a better process of exit if we properly plan for it, if government says how it is thinking about those issues. i also think, as keir starmer said this morning, it's important for people, because people wa nt to important for people, because people want to know not the precise date on which this is going to end, but a sense of what the exit will look like. ed miliband, thank you for your time. thank you. just before the weather, let's take a listen to this. that's the forecast, stay safe, and i'll see you soon. he drums along that's a face some of

you will recognise — bbc weather presenter 0wain wyn evans, adding some of his signature style to the bbc news theme. we will hear more from him later this afternoon. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise. good afternoon. not much change with the weather story at the moment. it's very quiet out there, with high pressure in control. that means that many of us are seeing sights like this. lots of fair weather, lots of sunshine coming through. the only exception further north. yet again we have some thicker cloud, thick enough for the odd spot or two of drizzle. put those two weather watchers on the satellite, it helps tell the story. to the north and west it's a rather cloudy, disappointing day, but for the vast majority, lots of dry, sunny weather to look out for. little bit more of a breeze perhaps along channel coasts, and certainly more of a breeze up into the north, feeding that cloud in. here, nine to 11 degrees, but elsewhere we could see those temperatures into the high teens, particularly anywhere in the east. through the night tonight, the cloud will sink south across the whole of scotland

into the north of england and northern ireland. we will continue too see some drizzle. elsewhere, it's a quiet story, with a little bit of patchy mist and fog, temperatures holding up between four and eight degrees. so that cold front continues to push its way through scotland, and behind it colder air. at the same time an area of low pressure moves into the south—west and it feeds in this warmer air for a time, so warmer still. thursday looks likely to be the warmest day of the week. so a bit of a contrast on thursday. again, thicker cloud as that front sinks south. no significant rain, but a noticeable difference in the feel. lots of sunshine across england and wales, a few sharp showers arrive by the end of the afternoon. but we could see temperatures peaking at 21 or 22 degrees, as opposed to just eight to 11 further north. now that cold front will ease away, and then high pressure builds and quietens things down for the northern half of the country as we move into the weekend. at the same time, this low is going to bring us some rain. now useful rain, some gardeners and growers may be shouting,

as it pushes into the south—west, moves its way up through wales. some of those showers could be quite heavy for a time. a feed of north—easterly wind means it will feel quite cold on those exposed east coasts. not quite as warm generally across the country for friday. but there will be some showers, and some of them heavy, possibly thundery, for the start of the weekend across england and wales, drier further north. so just to summarise for you, if you haven't already got the picture, it looks as though as we head to the weekend, showers for england and wales, dry and sunny elsewhere.

this is bbc news. the headlines... ministers promise to test all care home residents and staff in england with covid—19 symptoms. going right to the front of the queue for tests, because we recognise it is so important to look after really vulnerable people and also the workforce who are looking after them. the government pledge comes after weeks of calls for action from charities — who claim the virus is ‘running wild' in care homes. i can't tell you how hard it is to lose 16 residents in the space of three weeks. it is horrendous, absolutely heart rendering. nearly a thousand people have now died in scotland after testing positive for coronavirus,

a quarter of them in care homes.